24/05/2013: China to become major grain importer; Farmers plant rice near Fukushima site; New feed handling brochure

China, the world's largest food consumer, is expected to become a major grain importer by 2015, head of a global grain trader said in a recent industry forum.  

Sunny Verghese, CEO of Olam International Ltd, a Singapore-based grain trader, said because of diminishing resources of land and water, China is on the way to become a major importer of corm, wheat and rice by 2015.

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Farmers have resumed planting rice for market only 15 kilometres (nine miles) from Japan's crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station.

It was the first time since the March 2011 earthquake-tsunami-nuclear disaster that farmers have gone inside the former 20-kilometre "no-go" zone around the doomed plant to sow rice intended for sale.

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Suffolk-based pig equipment specialists, Quality Equipment, has produced a new brochure on feed handling systems. It provides pig farmers with a wealth of information on all types of kit needed to transport feed around the farm and to the pigs.

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Drawing of a Poland China (breed) pig (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Fukushima rice unsafe to eat

Rice is a key part of Japanese cuisine and 85 percent of the country's 2.3m farms grow it.  However,  farmers near Fukushima are unable to sell their produce as it contains unsafe levels of radiation. Japan has a safety limit of radiation exposure at 1 millisievert per year, although some areas in Fukushima measure higher at about 20 millisieverts.


The high levels were caused by the Fukushima nuclear accident which followed the March 2011 tsumani.

It remains to be seen what impact this will have on the rice milling industry.

Rice Paddies near Lake Inawashiro in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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 The Global Miller, published and supported by the GFMT Magazine and the International Milling Directory from Perendale Publishers. And blogs are written by the staff of Grain & Feed Milling Technology daily. Get your copy of 'PPLAPP', our mobile web application which will allow you to view this blog and other useful information while on the move.

Radiation rumours rattle Japanese exports

With the radiation problems of the Fukushima plants in Japan still not being solved, more countries start worrying about products that are imported from this country. Canada has tightened its controls on Japanese imports to include all food and animal feed products from areas affected by Japan's ongoing nuclear crisis.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said that it requires documentation proving the safety of food and feed products before it will allow them into Canada. The federal agency has also begun testing radiation levels of Japanese products, it said. Read more ...

This blog is written by Martin Little The Global Miller, published and supported by the GFMT Magazine from Perendale Publishers.